Parental Background- Father was the youngest of 4 siblings who had 5 years of fatherhood with his two sons. Me being the eldest, was 11years old when he passed away at age 44 due to non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. My mother was a World War 2 Orphan adopted into 10 children and 4 step-mothers as the eldest. My mum lived life valiantly despite suffering significant brain damage to her prefrontal cortex in her mid-adolescence, her orphan hood, her widowhood at age 39, and single mother challenges. Both Dad and Mum passed away on the same day, 28th Dec, separated 37 years apart.
Family Background – I am married since 1999. My beloved wife is a homemaker. We have two sons. My eldest was diagnosed with autism at age 3 with an IQ range in the late 70s to early 80s and speaking his first syllable at age 5plus. My younger son has challenges in processing nonverbal language that conveys emotional and social information. Against the odds, my eldest son has been accepted to NTU (History), and my younger son has set his aims for undergraduate life.
Developmental Background- I have autism or mindblindness. Despite discovering this at age 49 and awakening to almost normalcy, both my parents loved me unconditionally. I have never received a single rebuke for my lack of social and emotional awareness from my parents.
Educational Background – I have taken my A-Levels twice. Incidentally, my eldest son, has repeated his Primary one. I graduated with B.Eng (2nd Lower) from Nanyang Technological University in 1995. Following that, in 2001, Masters of Science from the National University of Singapore. More recently, I had an enriching experience from the Masters of Arts in Educational Psychology from Ball State University (2020) and coaching training (Level 1 – Transformative, 2018, and Level 2 – Professional, 2019) from Coach Masters Academy in Singapore.
Career Background– Against the odds, I have two professional licenses, Professional Engineering License issued by the Professional Engineers Board and The Registered Inspector License issued by the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Currently, I am retired. Before this, by God’s purpose and will, I was an equal equity partner in a medium-sized fire consultancy firm based in Singapore between 2003 to 2020.
Religious Background- I accepted Jesus as my savior in 1986 and renewed my vows in 1996. My wife and I see our calling in the wayside ministry, reaching the vulnerable that crosses our path. The wayside ministry comprises the 3 roles of the Good Samaritan, the good neighbor, and the Inn Keeper.